Supermaul
|death=2010''Annie and the Blue-Eared Kid'' |status=Half-blood |species=Tsurb |gender=Male |height= |mass= |hair=Blue, later white |eyes=Purple |skin=Brown |occupation=Principal of Superhero School |era=*Pre-NoHead era *NoHead era |affiliation=Superhero School |masters=Phineas Fireball |apprentices= }}Professor Supermaul (1638 - 2010) was the Tsurb principal of Superhero School, and the predecessor of Superquack in the post. Supermaul served as principal in the 1940s into the 1960s. He left office between April 1968 and April 1974 and was succeeded by Superquack. He was a “nearly bald and a somewhat feeble” man in his elderly years and died in late 2010. Biography Early life Supermaul was born in September 1638, and it is likely that he attended Superhero School at the age of seven. If he went through his mutant education at Superhero School, he would have graduated at the age of eighteen in 1655. What he did after his graduation is unknown, although Supermaul seemed to have been held in high regard in his old age, since was he eventually were chosen and offered the job of being principal of Superhero School, although it is unknown whether he ever took up a teaching post prior to this appointment. As principal of Superhero School Early years Professor Supermaul became Principal of Superhero School in the early twentieth century. In his position, it is possible he was responsible for the employment of Saunders, Superquack, Harold Gumma, Silva Puddle and possibly Amycus Merrythought as teachers at Superhero School. It is also known that he was responsible for hiring Miranda Butterfield, having offered her “a job in the Fencing department, under Head of Department, Superquack”. He may have immediately succeeded Phineas Fireball as Principal in 1925. During 1940s, Superhero School received students and Professor Ranita Dorad from Vastelobrux, the Brazilian mutant school, during an exchange visit. Halloween pantomime In 1954, Harold Gumma, then-English master, proposed an adaptation of A Hoop of Halloween as a Halloween treat for both staff and students. The show, however, was a fiasco: the girl playing Adeline had cyberbullied the girl who played the Ghost of Burnings recently, at which point "the Ghost of Burnings" started dueling "Adeline" fiercely. The boy who played Geraldine Hamill’s husband was caught in the crossfire and his head began growing green fur. During the play, the Smokegasser portraying the Ghost of Mercy (provided by the reckless teacher Tegan Poolsworth) had a huge hole blown in it, sending acid everywhere. While "Geraldine Hamill’s husband" attacked the two duelists, the staff were forced to flee from the acid, which threatened to engulf the auditorium and spread like a virus throughout the school. Of course, there were several people sent to the hospital wing and Principal Supermaul had to put Poolsworth in one of her eighty-five periods of probation. In response to this dramatic fiasco, Principal Supermaul imposed a blanket ban on future pantomimes, a tradition is still followed by the Superhero School’s staff and students to this day. Under Superquack’s request, Ruby Wright was trained as Gate Guard and was allowed to remain at the school after graduation. Later years When Jamboga Pine returned to Superhero School after his graduation to apply for the post of professor of Fencing, after Amycus Merrythought retired, Supermaul denied him the position for being too young, but invited him to reapply in a few years, despite being advised heavily against it by Superquack. Superquack realized Pine’s true intentions, but did not include them as his reasons for denying him the job, as Professor Supermaul was very fond of him and believed that he was completely honest. Death Professor Supermaul’s term as principal ended between April 1968 and April 1974. His immediate successor in the post was Professor Superquack, who had been Supermaul’s Deputy Principal and gym teacher. Before his death, the principal visited Charity Hirz and asked for her permission to use her hologram pit. Hirz approved, and Supermaul delved into the hologram pit, leaving behind everything he knew. Before he left, Hirz promised to remove anything too personal, though it would be impossible for her to remove three centuries of memories. In doing this, he effectively ensured he in some capacity could continue to posthumously serve the school by sharing his knowledge with his successors in office as a final service to his beloved school. Supermaul died in late 2010, after having been reported in the 1 September edition of the Evening Seer as being suspected of causing an accident only a month before his Ancient age dueling test on his 372nd birthday. Legacy The prominence of Supermaul’s tenure as principal is highlighted by the fact that he even got a Holocard made in his effigy, due to his work as chief administrator of Superhero School. At some point, Maranda Bones published her bestselling biography titled Supermaul: Master or Moron?, which, given its title and Vance’s own brand of sensationalist writing (elsewhere described as “one quarter truth to three quarters garbage”), it can be reasonably assumed that it contains false defamatory information, or otherwise facts taken out of context. It is unknown whether Supermaul’s public opinion suffered from the publication of this book. After Supermaul's death, Hirz edited a good portion of the memories, and generally presented Supermaul as very dignified and solemn-looking, attired in long, majestic robes of blue and bronze. Physical description Professor Supermaul had brown, leathery skin that was beginning to pale out, purple eyes and, in his youth, a thick blue beard. In his elderly years, he became frail and feeble-looking. He was balding and had only a few wisps of white hair left. Personality and traits Apparently, Supermaul was a very proud man who for the most part held himself with dignity and solemnity at all but the most trying of times, in which case he would over time look very feeble and tired after having to cope with such troubles at his age. Very loyal to Superhero School, Professor Supermaul gave a certain impression of holding the school in higher regard than he did even his staff, as he was very distrusting of others, and Professor Superquack, his Head of Gymnastics at during the later parts of Professor Supermaul’s tenure, noted that he was one of few people that Professor Supermaul confided in. He was also a man of tradition, having scolded anyone who showed lack of respect or loyalty to the school, which were shown when he reprimanded Charity Hirz for offering to alter the memories to which it removed his flaws, expressing that they were honor-bound to give advice to the current Headmaster or Headmistress, regardless of their personal feelings, showing that Professor Supermaul possessed an unyielding desire to serve the school and professional integrity. During his time as Headmaster, Professor Supermaul was apparently a disciplinarian. Perhaps somewhat harshly old-fashioned in his methods, the school was marked by an acceptance of severe punishment under his leadership, as he allowed the Caretaker of the day, Mr Travis Leis, to continue the traditionally accepted use of corporal punishment on students for misbehavior or rule-breaking. However, he was not feared by his students, but seen as revered and very capable in his own right, and ultimately a man dedicated to the protection and preservation of the school and all its inhabitants and did not take the safety of his students lightly, and his success as head of the school is shown by his depiction on a Famous Mutants Card solely in homage to his long and faithful service to the school as Principal. Professor Supermaul was by no means above severely punishing anyone who might pose a potential breach in the security of the school, be it student or staff: Professor Sanders once commented, perhaps in jest, that Supermaul would not hesitate to put him in detention if he found out that he had been encouraging students to be up and about past curfew. He also placed Professor Silva Poolsworth, whom he always considered to be quite reckless, on no fewer than eighty-five periods of probation (including once after the chaos that ensued during a performance of A Hoop of Halloween, for which Poolsworth provided an enlarged Smokegasser to play the part of the Worm), since the catastrophe endangered the students. He also seemed to favor status, at least to some extent, as he was fully prepared to believe the word of a Prefect over the word of a younger student. In dangerous situations, he would act rather rashly in an attempt to seize control of the situation and come to realize the truth. This shows that Professor Supermaul might have been a wise, well-meaning if somewhat strict administrator under pressure rather than mercilessly expelling one student on the word of another. The fact that Ruby’s mother passed away that year can also have been a factor in Professor Supermaul permitting her to remain at Superhero School, sympathizing with the young woman’s tragic situation, which proves that Professor Supermaul, behind his solemn exterior, did indeed care about the students of Superhero School, and was capable of looking past whatever wrongdoings one of the pupils was accused of and focus on their needs in times of great trouble and loss. It is known that during his tenure at Superhero School, Professor Supermaul grew rather fond of Jamboga Pine and was, perhaps somewhat biased towards him, partly due to sympathizing with the boy who had grown up orphaned and friendless and partly due to the young man’s charisma. However, this did not blind him from keeping their safety his number one priority, nor did it stop him for keeping up certain standards. This is shown when he rejects the request of a recent graduate to become a teacher on the basis of being too young. Powers and abilities As a long-serving Headmaster of Superhero School, it is not unreasonable to assume that Supermaul was rich in learning and experience, as well as a very accomplished mutant in his own right, even if his powers would have diminished somewhat due to his old age. Being the principal of Superhero School presumably also required him to review the curriculum of his staff to ensure learning efficiency, and to prevent that the students were exposed to anything that was inappropriate, meaning that he certainly would have had a very high level of mutant knowledge indeed. The true extent of Supermaul’s defensive prowess is not known, but he, as principal, was responsible for controlling the mutated protections around Superhero School, and he was easily able to lift and utilize the defensive powers himself. Having grown up in a time predating the school bus and even the U.S. Government itself, it is reasonable to say that he was quite knowledgeable on historical events having taken place from his younger years and up until his death, and might even have been present in person on some of them. While he never achieved the level of admiration and reverence of his immediate successor, Professor Supermaul was a very capable principal of the school, and remembered as such by his tenure having been the theme of his Holocard. In his time as leader of the school, he was very strict and perhaps somewhat old-fashioned in matters of discipline, yet he never lost sight of the importance of keeping his students safe and well, or fail to uphold the standards necessary to run the school effectively, as shown by how he declined Jamboga Pine’s request to become a teacher on the grounds of him being too young and inexperienced for the employment to be prudent in spite of his fondness for him. Possessions Professor Supermaul’s sword was of unknown manufacturer, length, energizers, and material. Presumably purchased at the age of seven prior to his mutant education, he was in possession of it during the 1940s. He left it on his desk during his meeting with Jamboga Pine in the 1960s concerning the latter’s job application. When Professor Supermaul presided in the office in the Principal’s Tower, there was a single bookcase, a desk, and several paintings there, including the portraits of his predecessors. According to Superquack, Professor Supermaul planted some blackberries and rhododendron in the school grounds while he was principal. However, it is likely that Superquack was simply trying to distract Mr. Stupid NoHead. Relationships Jamboga Pine Supermaul was very fond of Jamboga Pine, whom he made several “special arrangements” for. His relationship with him was strong enough to make Superquack decide not to tell Supermaul about why he thought Pine should not be given a job at the school. Superhero School professors Professor Supermaul was, apparently, distrusting of his employees, confiding only in a few professors, which included the Gym teacher Superquack. As principal, Supermaul placed Silva Puddlesworth on at least one, but presumably many more, of her eighty-five periods of probation. The one known time was after she provided a Smokegasser with growth powers on it instead of a worm for the A Hoop of Halloween pantomime. Supermaul, after the chaos, placed a permanent ban on pantomimes from thereon. Another of Supermaul’s employees was Harold Gumma, who was the one who adapted A Hoop of Halloween into a play. Gumma, who had been teaching Herbalism, eventually left to become a professor of the Mutant Academy of Fine Arts and Humantities. Sanders also worked under principal Supermaul. One evening, during one of his Sanders Club’s supper parties, Sanders joked that if the student group would be found up and about after hours, Professor Supermaul would put them all in detention, including himself. Behind the Scenes In the graphic novelization of , Supermaul is mentioned in the Perpetual Seer article ''MECHANIZED BEAST MYSTIFIES CIVILIANS''. In the article, mutants Ariel Gora and Leonora Maugosa accuse Supermaul, their neighbor, of causing the incident. Supermaul is referred to as “a rather feeble old mutant”, “well known for his erratic flying”, and had his sword confiscated pending an ancient age flying test (a past occurrence, comprising a flying crash against Sophia Felitan, who fell into the Golden Gate, is also cited). However, this canonicity of this article is open to dispute as the article changes subjects part-way through and becomes gibberish. If it is Principal Supermaul mentioned in the article, he was the fourth-oldest known mutant, being born in 1638. The only known mutants older than him were Bartemius Willie (b. 1105) and the Lightmaker (b. 1316). Merlin’s apprentice also outlived him, but he was not a mutant. His sword may have been made out of tin, considering how tin swords worked well with mutants destined for long lives. Appearances * * *''Superquack II'' *''Annie and the Blue-Eared Kid'' * Notes and references Category:Males Category:Tsurbs Category:Mutants Category:Superhero School principals Category:Centenarians Category:1638 births Category:Holocards Category:Gold Holocards Category:Schoolteachers Category:2010 deaths Category:Educated in 1645 Category:Bicentenarians Category:Tricentenarians